In the drilling and production of hydrocarbon producing wells, a wellbore or borehole is drilled into the Earth. The wellbore is typically lined with a casing and cement is pumped into the annulus between the casing and the wall of the wellbore in order to isolate formations found in the wellbore from the casing. With the casing in place various operations may be performed in the wellbore, including but not limited to perforating, production, artificial lifting, a frac operation, cutting a lateral, etc. There are many applications in well drilling, servicing, and completion which require isolation and sealing off of particular zones within the well.
Packers, frac plugs and bridge plugs are commonly run into a wellbore and used to isolate one portion of a wellbore from another portion. A typical packer is run into a wellbore and then set using slips which engage the casing. Bridge plugs and frac plugs are installed in a similar manner to a typical packer. Packers, bridge plugs, and frac plugs are installed to temporarily block the wellbore and provide a barrier against which pressure can be developed to treat a hydrocarbon-bearing formation adjacent the wellbore. In all of these instances, the tool is typically disconnected from a run-in string of tubulars and left in place during the operation. Thereafter, the tools can be retrieved and brought to the surface.